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Jammer's Review

Battlestar Galactica

"Unfinished Business"

Air date: 12/1/2006
Written by Michael Taylor
Directed by Robert Young

Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan

I'm picturing a movie poster right now that has Kara Thrace and Lee Adama, half obscured in a dark shadow, with brooding looks on their faces, their eyes cast somewhat downward as they wear boxing gloves, standing facing in opposite directions so they aren't looking at each other, and the poster tagline above them says "Love Hurts."

That might give you an idea of what the net effect of "Unfinished Business" is. Here's an episode I might be willing to label a "guilty pleasure" given the initial plot outline (crew members settle their personal pent-up frustrations in boxing slugfests while we finally are shown what went down between Kara and Lee to open the gulf between them), but once you see it and then think about it, you realize there's very little pleasure to be found here.

Either this is (a) a brilliant character study about how the damaged psyche cannot possibly be understood — not the least by even oneself, or (b) a cynical exploitation of boiling-over soap opera themes filtered through dark, exaggerated angst. I'm not sure which side of the fence I'm on. Certainly, there's a case to be made for both sides.

The episode's conceit is that all the military personnel aboard the Galactica apparently know how to box, and in keeping with military tradition, they use the boxing ring as a medium for working out their issues in a Fight Club sort of way: One boxes such that one can still feel alive. You leave your rank outside the ring, and then you step inside and settle issues like man was meant to: by beating the living crap out of his fellow man.

The scenes in the boxing ring are edited together along with a series of flashback scenes set on New Caprica eight months before the Cylon occupation. Certain gaps in that missing year that I, for one, have been curious about are answered in these scenes. Obviously not everything, but a few important things.

In many ways, this episode is refreshing. It takes us away from all issues of the Cylons and focuses purely on the characters and their internal workings and assorted dramas. Specifically, this episode leads up to a climactic fight between Kara and Lee that's been about a year in the making. What happened on New Caprica to get these two characters, who once loved each other, to this point? Even more specifically: What made Lee so absolutely bitter toward Kara, and what turned Kara into a bitch and a half?

The episode's most memorable and melancholy point is in how it reveals that the Colonial settlers, had it not been for the occupation, might actually have been able to live out their days happily on New Caprica. While it was previously established that New Caprica was a cold and harsh planet, the scenes in these flashbacks reveal that there must've at least been a comfortable warm season to offer a respite. There's a community celebration that feels as if the clock has been turned back to a simpler time where human beings could simply live in peace as neighbors. It's almost depressing to think that a few months after this celebration, all these characters will be trapped once again inside overcrowded tin cans.

This realization is made all the more poignant by the wonderful performances of Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell, who ponder this new, peaceful chapter in humanity in scenes that hint at possible romance without ever confirming it.

As for Kara and Lee, such confirmation will not be left to the imagination. Most series tend to have their own version of the Will They or Won't They, and Battlestar is no exception. Kara/Lee has been an implied (and later explicit) WTOWT situation since basically day one — and season two, with the introduction of Anders, only complicated/accelerated that. In the flashback scenes here, the whole situation plays itself out in painstaking detail, some of it very interesting and agonizing. Lee and Kara had drunken sex on New Caprica, after which Lee put all his cards on the table and proclaimed his love for Kara by shouting it to the sky. Would Kara reciprocate? Well, she shouts to the sky, but when she does it, we don't believe it for a second, and the moment is hit so precisely perfectly on the head — in all its awkwardness — that it's almost painful to watch. It's effective: We see that Kara can simply not return Lee's feelings, for whatever inexplicable reasons.

The next morning before Lee wakes up, Kara marries Anders, for reasons that will elude most of the audience, not to mention probably Kara herself. Certainly those reasons elude Lee, who would not have been unjustified in castigating her on the spot (which he does not). Kara's actions are nasty and inexplicable, but Lee's own previous speechmaking about marriage and the future was part of the catalyst.

Clearly, Kara has issues that go back to childhood, and those issues have impacted the adult that exists now, but to try to explain Kara's thoughts and actions is to try to employ psychology beyond its usefulness. Why would she do what she does to Lee in such a heartless way? The episode's point is that shit happens, and people do lousy things to other people that they don't deserve. Even Kara probably wouldn't try to explain or defend it. Lee's answer is to marry Dualla as a sort of consolation action, which is not a good reason to marry anybody. (I couldn't help but feel sorry for Anders and Dualla, both whom are being married for the wrong reasons. Did they even have a clue what they were getting into?)

Still, I respect the writers' willingness to confront such a mess, especially in the face of consummating the central WTOWT of this series. Messy relationships are a fact of life, and to a degree I'm in sympathy with this material. But I have reservations about taking that friction and turning it into an over-the-top grudge-match in the present, where Kara and Lee pound on each other for so long that neither has the strength to stand. (This follows logically, I suppose, from Kara's downward spiral stemming from her psychological torture on New Caprica. Meanwhile, Lee cannot be faulted for responding to Kara's blatant baiting.) The end of this fight, which for some will seem like the ultimate cop-out and yet makes a certain amount of twisted sense, is like the cleverest reset button ever concocted. Where do the characters go from here? Back to where they were pre-New Caprica? Better yet, where do Anders and Dualla go? They are like the doormat byproducts of the WTOWT.

Despite my misgivings over all this, I'm more put off by the outcome of Adama's bout in the ring with Tyrol. It starts out with Adama's sucker-punch that seems like a cruel taunt and continues with Tyrol punching Adama where he previously had been shot. It ends with Adama going down in the ring in a sequence of painful humiliation: No one in the room wanted to see it, and, frankly, no one in the TV audience wanted to see it either. Adama seems to be making a reckless point here, but it's lost on me, because he's essentially arguing that friendships for him became a weakness rather than a strength because of the impact they had on his military decisions during a time of (deceptively) apparent peace. Given all the facts under consideration, I'm not convinced by this argument. Is Adama supposed to jettison his humanity in order to run a better military machine?

All the messages in "Unfinished Business" are delivered in a sea of intentionally murky contradiction and individual self-destructiveness, as if the whole BSG universe were a cautionary tale. Is that the point? I think it is. Should it be? I'm not sure. My own cynicism believes that when people have been through such harrowing situations, they are likely to become dark and unlikable people like the people shown here, and the writers are brave to depict that so honestly. But I'd also like to think that the message could be more optimistic. I said way back in my review of "Act of Contrition" that "this series contains more humanity than most." That was then, and this is now. Perhaps the New Caprica experience was more damaging to the human psyche than we thought.

36 comments on this review

I've got to agree with you. This episode really came off as a bad piece of
fanfiction. I kept looking at that final fight sequence and seeing it as a
bad music video made by someone who watches the show on a regular basis. I
also have to agree with the comment about the Adama/Tyrol fight. Seeing him
suckerpunch Tyrol was so out of character that I half expected William
Olmos to drop his gloves and say to the audience, "Why did I just do that?"

I really enjoyed this episode, and I'd have rated it 3.5 or 3 at least. It
felt like a change of pace to me, but I can understand why some people
might not like it if relationship DRAMA is not your thing. Me, I don't mind
it at all.

I remember finding Adama's statement about "letting everyone get too close"
a little off given his history, at least the first time I watched it. It
really informs his actions in some later episodes, like the cliffhanger
scene of 'The Eye of Jupiter', or his ultimatum to Tyrol in 'Dirty Hands'.

Well, now that the extended version of this episode has come out on DVD, I
think I'm even more firmly on the side of "great episode, too bad about the
hints at the impossibility of a quiet life in it" than the "this isn't what
I watch BSG for" side. I'm not a fan of boxing, but I can appreciate very
well its use as a device here. I'm far more a fan of the drunken love
scenes and the smoking. And the extended version isn't better, its just
MORE. And more, in this case, is still lovely. The episode gets Lee and
Kara a great chance to deal with their long-term issues far better than
we've seen at any time since the first season. And it's a really amazingly
well shot thing, well edited, and well staged. It makes one wonder about
the New Caprican "nature" and just how possible comforts or real survival
and endurance might have been there.

Jammer's review is spot on with the worry about Adama's point in his
speech. But he's also proving himself, in that very human moment, to be
quite the flawed voice of authority and wisdom. Sure, our foes must be
fought when we mean to be soldiers, but what has ever made this man the
end-all, be-all of wisdom on this show? There's a peace-loving side coming.
The enemy will change its nature, and so will our human heroes. In order to
survive together and get to the promised land together, this must happen.
Just because he was bleeding, and partly right, for the good of the
soldiers in the room, it doesn't mean he was ALL right. And this series is
saying that, I think. The President is there to say that.

I'm not sure about Anders, but I think Dee went into her marriage knowing
exactly what she was getting into. I don't know what that says about Dee
herself, but at least she was aware. To tell you the truth, I miss Billy.

I'd give this a three. I think the scenes on New Caprica are standout
material, but the "present day" story leaves something to be desired (but
then, it's really just a framing device for the flashbacks). Even without
the scenes restored in the Extended Edition (many of which make the episode
even better), I'd say this is worthy of a 3 star rating, though more on par
with Measure of Salvation's (closer to a 2.5 than a 3.5) than Torn's (I
might even give this a 3.5).

The extended edition also has problems in that there are some things that
didn't need to be included, but I think that it is a solid 3 star story
because the Lee/Kara story is only one part of the overall story, not THE
story.

I'm lukewarm on the extended "Unfinished Business." My star rating would
remain unchanged between the two versions. While the show benefited from
some extra scenes (particularly the Tigh/Kara scene where Tigh laughs out
loud at Kara's confession, and we get an idea of how they became friends
during The Big Gap in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 2"), there's also a lot
of needless filler that is momentum-killing.

The teaser draws out the boxing atmosphere unnecessarily, in my opinion,
and the dancing at the New Caprica groundbreaking party goes on too long.
This had more of an indie-movie feel, I'll grant you, but in terms of the
rhythms that make up BSG, I felt much of the extended material in the
extended cut wasn't necessary. Not hurtful to the show, but not in its
favor, either.

I guess the ones who really like boxing would appreciate this episode, but
I find boxing just dumb and ugly, and hitting a beautiful woman in the face
is about the most disgusting thing I can think of. I guess if I re-watched
the episode I might find some meaning in the fighting, but that's not going
to happen.

Kara's behavior isn't as inexplicable as it outwardly appears; she's driven
by guilt. Remember how Kara was engaged to Lee's brother, Zak? 1) She
feels responsible for his death. 2) Despite her relationship with Zak,
when she met Lee they were attracted to each other (see later episodes).
3) Her relationship with Admiral Adama (with its father-daughter feel)
reinforces the sibling-like bond between herself and Lee.

All these combine to give her a truckload of guilt, which compels her to
push Lee away despite their attraction. He's the forbidden love, the
brother, the other son, and a reminder of her past mistakes all in one.
Add to that Lee's declaration of love, and no wonder she's lashing out at
him: it's because she hasn't forgiven herself. Why would Lee fight back?
Sexual frustration, Kara's part in Zak's death, and good old vexation.

In light of this guilt-ridden plot, Admiral Adama's present conflict is
more understandable. Adama feels irrational (and rational) guilt over the
fact that the Cylons were able to hold humanity hostage on New Caprica for
so long. He blames himself for letting go of the hardened military mindset
which would have kept a stronger fleet in orbit, and so lashes out as an
expression of reestablishing emotional distance between himself and the
crew.

To me, this episode is in line with the series' goal: to be a drama that
just happens to be sci-fi. The boxing was the crew's outward expression of
pent up frustration and guilt, and was appropriate considering the science
fiction military setting.

This episode passed by quickly for me because I was totally caught up in
the events of New Caprica. I loved the way that the entire episode was
framed by the boxing match. Galactica finds very interesting ways to tell
its stories.

Is it me, or is President Roslin looking more beautiful every episode? I
certainly wouldn't turn her down, even though she is nearly 60.

For the first time since I started watching this series (on DVD and now via
amazon.com episode downloads) I came very close to shutting it off and
moving on to the next episode.

It happened right at the beginning, as soon as I realized they were going
to use the hoary cliche of processing interpersonal conflicts through a
boxing ring. I disdain boxing and despise the cliche. To me, it's a
prefabricated cheat, using the "sport" as a substitute for meaningful and
believable explorations of character conflicts. I groaned as soon as I saw
boxing gloves on the screen, and started trying to convince myself that I
could skip this episode and rely on Jammer's review to clue me in on any
serious development that would be relevant to future episodes.

Fortunately, I'm a lazy man slow to action, so I continued to stare
slack-jawed at the screen long enough to realize there was something of
value here. And the more I watched it the more I was sucked into it. Yes,
the boxing device was hackneyed, but, as others noted, it was a framing
device and the real point was the insights we gain, gradually, from the
flashbacks. And those insights are very welcome after several episodes in
which the visceral highlight is my frustration that Baltar's knee is in the
way of my view of Six's naked ass.

I disagree with the bitter condemnation of Kara's actions. As Angela
points out, Kara's motivation is very, very confused at this point. Even
setting aside the monstrous Cylon mind-frak she suffered on New Caprica,
her whole history with the Adama's is an emotional quagmire. She's young,
but she's seen enough to know that she can't move her relationship with Lee
in a new direction without risking everything she already has with him and
his father. And her status as an adopted daughter to Admiral Adama is a
core part of her identity, we've seen that more than once.

And she knows she's a mess. She knows she is probably going to frak up any
sexual relationship she has with a man. And losing Anders is one thing,
losing the Adamas is another. She'll experiment with Anders, but not with
Lee.

And Lee is being awfully blase about his marriage to Dualla. Anybody quick
to judge Kara should probably stop and think about that. Disregard
everything else, and a smart woman is still going to have to wonder at a
guy who is ready to throw his wife in the gutter without any indication of
remorse so that he can be with another woman.

I was surprised Admiral Adama didn't win his fight. The speech he gives
when his fight is over would have worked just as well, it seems to me, if
he had won, maybe even better. But they deliberately deprived us of that
cathartic conclusion. I'm not sure I understand why. One explanation
would be that it is unrealistic to expect a man in his 60s (or more?) to
out box Tyrol, a man in his early 30s at the most, even if Tyrol is looking
a little pudgy these days. I think I understood the dialog between Adama
and Roslin to indicate that Adama was going to throw the fight, but I'm
still not sure why.

But, in the end, it was an exceptional episode, I thought. It was focused
on the characters, and it filled in some empty spaces. Everything made
sense for the characters. The scenes between Adama and Roslin on New
Caprica were charming, revealing, and totally believable. It was good to
see two characters who love each other expressing their feelings in a
non-sexual way (although Roslin was dropping some heavy hints, it sometimes
seemed), in an alcohol-addled universe where sex too often seems the wild
card in relationships.

And the contrast between Adama's fatherly love for Tyrol and Calli and his
boxing match with Tyrol was powerful and effective. Tryol's casual
dismissal of Adama's authority earlier in the episode demanded a response
from Adama. But still, I'm not sure why it didn't demand he kick Tyrol's
ass.

Finally managed to see the extended version. It is a tad overlong and has
some bits that could be excised, but for the most part, the extended cut
vastly improved the episode. The way the teaser was cut was especially
good, reminiscent of Kobol's Last Gleaming.

And man, that scene with Kara and Tigh is so good. They should have cut
something else to keep that in.

I LOVED this episode and the extended version even more. I'm one of those
people though, that had been shipping Lee/Kara so I loved the story between
them. When Lee got up and found Kara married my initial reaction is
"BITCH!!" but after watching the extended version it gives some insight
into why she married Anders. Lee tells her that he needs her and I don't
think that she could be that person for him and so she was not only
protecting herself, but she thought she was protecting him too.

Adama sucker punched Tyrol becuase Chief had his guard down. Tyrol wouldn't
hit him becuase they were sort of friends. Adama says that you can't have
friends in war and that is the lesson Tyrol learned while boxing him. That
dynamic makes perfect sense to me.

LOVED this episode. I had been looking forward to it for so long. My
favorite part of this episode thought was after Starbuck beats HotDog, Tigh
takes a drink out of his flask and then offers it to Kara. Loved that
little comraderie between them.
K+L Forever

I liked this one TOO. It is such a relief to for one single episode not
have those F-in Cylons trying to kill your species. I think I could have
fixed this episode in one easy way. The forshadowing the Lee-Kara fight
was way to obvious. If they could have made that a surpise (and BSG is
great at surprising), it would have been much more raw emotionally.

BTW, to all the female poster...I noticed alot of snide remarks toward what
Lee did to Dualla, yet did not Kara do the EXACT SAME THING to Anders....
women......

I have to give this one (or at least its extended version - the only one
I've seen) 3 stars because the scenes on New Caprica are among the best in
the series' run. When Lee and Kara are dancing, there is a brief shot of
his POV on her, and in that moment I completely understood his feelings for
her - hell, I was almost in love with Starbuck myself. The scene where he
yells out that he loves her also felt very true.

I think you've all missed the most critical aspect of this story: The
boxing ring is square instead of octagonal!!! ;)

Seriously though, I don't know, perhaps I'm old-school (well, I am) but I
still cherish ideals of fidelity, honesty, loyalty, honesty and honor.
AFAIC, everyone involved in this sorry tale--Starbuck, Lee AND Dualla
(remember Billy), with the probable exception of Anders--are a bunch of
lowlifes, screwing around like a pack of street dogs. Unpleasant as
Starbuck being viciously hit may have been (enjoy that one, Nick? ;-)
LOL!), they deserve to pummel the bejesus out of each other.

I didn't appreciate Adama sucker-punching Tyrol at all, but, then, my
respect and admiration for Adam has been in free-fall ever since "A Measure
of Salvation." However, his speech, particularly the part about men whom
you lead not being your friends, and what followed, was fantastic.

The flashbacks were actually--for a change--interesting and a very
well-used device to tell the story here. I enjoyed the show overall and
would awarded at the very least 3 stars.

P.S. near the beginning, the sound work was atrocious. There they were,
Lee and Starbuck, 7-8 feet away from each other in a crowded hall full of
noisy spectators and they were conversing practically sotto voce, yet being
able to hear each other perfectly.

I enjoy reading reviews of television series I follow and as I'm late to
the party with BSG (recently got the Blu-ray's) it's nice to watch an
episode and then read what was written when it aired.

The whole relationship between Lee and Starbuck doesn't feel right to me,
the concept of him being in love with the woman who was engaged to his
brother seems both bizarre and soap opera-ish. I can understand her falling
for him because she had a twisted childhood and may somehow want to be
close to the fiancé she lost (in her own twisted way) but Apollo
reciprocating those feelings throws me for a loop.

I liked getting some answers within the flashbacks but the boxing seemed
out of place, especially when you'd need your soldiers in the best of shape
to battle the enemy. Nothing like giving someone a concussion before they
have to fly a ship! I'd give it 2.5/4.

Just when I thought that I couldn't dislike Starbuck any more than I
already did, this episode comes along. Selfish, bratty, whiny,
self-centered, egotistical, cowardly, bitter, a poor loser; yes, indeed,
Kara Thrace is all these things and more! The laundry list of horrible
character traits goes on.

Seriously, what the hell. Lee proclaims his love for her, she does the
same, then runs off and marries Sam. Then when her marriage to Sam falls
apart, as was inevitable considering her horrible personality, she blames
Lee for having ruined her chances from the start. Then she has the nerve to
be mouthy and rude and provoke him into a boxing match; THEN, when knocked
to the mat by Lee's superior skill, she, of course, starts fighting dirty
and throwing kicks to the face.

Unfinished Business is probably my most disliked episode though it has some
bright spots; I'd say 1.5 stars. It would be completely unwatchable for me
if it wasn’t for:
1) Nice flashbacks of New Caprica with Gaius not being evil and Gaeta being
a hard working idealist.
2) Adama and Roslin letting their guards down and fantasizing about a
possible future together.
3) Tahmoh being able to use his real life martial arts expertise; he’s
actually a good Thai kick boxer.
4) Athena being able to be excited, happy, and just part of the crew for
the first time - much more like Grace Park and not acting out terrible
suffering and angst filled situations like poor s2 Athena.

But … [you knew a “but” was coming! :)] … 3 things really brought
this episode down for me:

1) The amount of blood and violence was blech; I know it’s boxing and
I’ve succumbed and enjoyed boxing matches in my day but this went on and
on despite the flashbacks. And the blood was ridiculous; I think Moore &
Co. just liked it gory and over the top so we get an almost completely red
faced Adama for his dramatic speech – it looked like a slasher film at
times and took away from the acting and story.

2) Starbuck just gets worse and worse. I have 3 phases for Kara:
phase1, mini to 1.11: “up and down” – I didn’t like her lashing
out at Tigh about his wife and drinking but her back story with Zak and
1.04/1.05 were good. She was also cool in 1.10 Hand of God. She could be a
little jerky but there was balance.
phase2: 1.12 to 2.20: “the jerk phase” – Now she’s just a jerk.
Siding with Roslin, shooting at Athena on sight over Helo’s objections
(which she does again to a Marine during the mutiny) then calling Helo an
idiot in the least supportive “pep” talk ever, her wrecking Kat’s
moment of glory in Scar, etc ... the writers needed to round off her
harsher moments and add a few of her deleted scenes to make Kara more like
her “up and down” phase1.
phase3: 3.05 to the finale: “repulsive, simply repulsive” – I give
Starbuck a pass for 3.01 to 3.04, what a terrible torture she suffered and
why, why was Leoben obsessed with her “loving” him? (we never find out)
Anyway from 3.05 Collaborators onwards she was just repulsive, I’d look
away during her worst moments and this was on my first viewing! From her
saying "I want to tear your eyes out" to her policy on violence towards the
handicapped she was 100% repulsive.

As for Unfinished Business, her turning around and marrying Anders after a
night of sex with Lee, who bares his soul to her, is unconscionable. I
know about Zak, the Admiral as a father figure, her broken fingers issue
from her childhood – I don’t care. You don’t cross some lines without
personal responsibility kicking in and her marrying Anders like she did is
way over the line into repulsiveness. And her baiting Lee around the ring
was terrible. I’m 100% against violence of men vs women (and just
violence in general) but I uncomfortably found myself wanting Lee to beat
the tar out of Kara. And despite Lee getting softened up by Helo, Starbuck
being very fit, Lee being hesitant to go full force, and Starbuck sweeping
and kicking, she should have gotten her arse kicked by Lee. Just a single
80% punch from Lee should have put her down, probably for the count. The
fight realism isn’t really a big deal here; I just hated her and wanted
her to get beat.

3) The worst part of Unfinished Business is the shameless, grotesque
blending of a man and woman’s personal relationship problems with
violence, bloody violence. I know BSG extended boundaries and was an
intense human drama but there are things I don’t want to see no matter
how much the writers rationalize it as part of a character or a story. For
example, Simon the Cylon (that sounds so funny, like he’s a children’s
cartoon character!) in 2.05 The Farm tells Kara about radiation sickness:
“… cell death in the gastric and intestinal tissue causes massive
diarrhea, intestinal bleeding, and loss of water. It’s not pretty.” Did
the writers visualize this for us on screen? No! It would have been too
much and not added to the story. I feel the same way about the writers
having Lee and Kara beat the bleep out of each other and finally saying I
missed you. Gross, just gross.

My mom who's 70+ and got hooked on the show (she calls it "Masterpiece
Theater with lots of action") said at the end of Unfinished Business that
"if this was the first episode of BSG I had seen, I'd never watched
another" and it was over Starbuck's horrible relationship actions. This
episode just wasn’t a dud to me like Black Market which simply lacks good
qualities; Unfinished Business had some good qualities but its badness
overwhelms them. A real miss for me.

I found the shot of Doc Cottle enjoying the gory fight hysterical. The
episode is well made and I thought the New Caprica scenes were excellent. I
have a hard time with the sexual relationship between Lee and Kara. Nothing
about it adds a necessary dimension to them or the show. The brother/sister
angle is more than sufficient to explore their back stories and the sex
scenes always feel uncomfortable and gratuitous. I enjoyed "Hero" much more
overall. 2.5 stars from me.

I still can't fathom what the Admiral was attempting to achieve with his
little stunt. Sucker punching the Chief was just bizarre and
counter-productive. Way to go Bill, CREATING resentment among the crew.
It's good that the guy whose job first and foremost is to fix planes now
won't let his guard down when boxing. Funny - I thought the crew implicitly
trusting their superiors was a good thing for military efficiency.

Adama could have achieved his stated purpose (if he really had it and
wasn't just trolling) by purposely remaining aloof from the crew and
avoiding events like this.

I find it interesting that the Kara/Lee fight seems to make a lot of guys
uncomfortable, whereas most girls I talk to seem to enjoy it. One thing I
have consistently liked about BSG is that these humans aren't bogged down
by the typical gender stereotypes we are used to. Our society treats women
like fragile objects that should be put on a shelf and protected, but the
women in BSG have to fight just as hard as the men and don't get any
special breaks because of their femininity. The idea that a man should
never hit a woman, even in a fair fight, shows a level of paternalism that
the men on BSG refreshingly don't share.

I particularly liked when Anders makes a comment to Dee about Kara and Lee
trying to kill each other, and Dee says "That's one way to look at it." I
see the fight as more sexual than anything. Sex isn't always about "making
love." Sometimes it's about our savage nature coming to the surface in a
fit of passion. That's what I saw between Kara and Lee--not really
violence, but PASSION!

Right. I absolutely loved this episode, and it is possibly my favourite so
far. Even putting aside the beautiful formatting and music, the different
interweaving plot lines are just fantastic.
There's been some unjustified criticism over Adama's motives in this one.
It's perfectly clear and also in keeping with his character. Adama is
constantly blaming himself for the tragedies that befall them, and sees
himself as the one who must accept responsibility, that's his nature! He's
just so damn noble! And he sees the whole debacle that was New Caprica as
his responsibility, he was supposed to protect them and yet he had to flee.
His speech after throwing the fight is yet another demonstration of the
goodness of his soul. He loves his crew unconditionally but blames himself
for letting it cloud his judgement (he can't see it as the thing that
defines it).
And by the way, his growing love with Roslin is just perfection! I hope to
the bottom of my heart that they end up together! At the start of BSG I had
reservations about Roslin, I questioned her integrity. But now, she's
undoubtedly one of my favourites. I frakking love her!
Now, Lee and Kara. Lee. And. Kara. You have to be blind to try and deny
that they are soul mates. The flashback of some of their most romantic
moments at the end was so emotional. It's obvious just how frighteningly
much they love and need each other. Kara was so scared by the intensity of
this realisation that she turned to Anders. This was just denial. And the
brutal fight allowed us to see her coming to terms with her true feelings.
Just look at the expression on her face when she first saw Lee fighting
Helo from the balcony. The first time I saw it I was beyond ecstatic to
find out the truth about the rift between them. And frankly, if Starbuck
and Apollo don't end up together, I will personally complain to the
writers.
It's clear that Starbuck is deeply tormented by horrors in her past,
exacerbated and drawn out painfully by her ordeals with Leeoban. And it's
written in the stars that she will finally find peace in her love for her
soul mate... Apollo.
I have become such a massive fan of Katee Sackoff because of this show, and
Kara Thrace is hands down my favourite character, one who inspires me in my
own writing (yep, I write science fiction).
This show is frakking incredible, undoubtedly the best that has ever been
seen on television.
And this episode was beyond perfection.
I would give it 5/5, 10/10, hell, 100/100! And Kara and Lee BELONG
together. This is not something to be disputed. It is embedded in the very
workings of their souls.
STARPOLLO FOREVER!!!!!!!!!

P.S. Lee and Dualla's relationship is so wooden and crap I could cry.
They're so wrong for each other. It's sickening. She should have been with
Billy.

Horrible episode filled with horrible people being horrible to each other.
Adama's bit almost makes me laugh it's so silly. There's not a military
commander in the world who would think it was a good idea to let one of his
enlisted men beat the hell out of him in front of everyone, and that he
does this to get Tyrol -- TYROL, of all people -- to take his job more
seriously is just mind-boggling. Episodes like this are what makes me
wonder how anyone could be disappointed in some of the things that came
later.

As much as I agree that violence vs. women is horrible, that's not the
issue with the women who got into the ring in this episode. The BSG
universe is very different w.r.t. to gender roles. Females take on all
combat roles (not like the U.S., at least not yet), the bathrooms are
co-ed, and the females acquit themselves quite nicely in the ring (cf.
Starbuck>Hot Dog or Muay Thai Starbuck). I was not at all bothered by
the fact that Starbuck was being pummeled or dished out punishment in that
setting.

I got the impression that Kara was so frightened by the intensity of Lee's
declaration of love and how she felt about Lee in return, that she
ran to marry Sam, so that Lee's feelings would be sabotaged. In Kara's
fucked up head this was a good idea. While I'm sure that Kara loved Sam, it
never seemed that her feelings for him were near what they were for Lee so
the marriage was doomed from the start. The unrealistic parts in this
episode are of of course that first of all I don't see Lee just letting
something like that slide without a confrontation. He would not just stand
there with a wounded look on his face while Kara just looks oblivious to
all like she did not do something that most anybody would consider hateful
much less heartless. NO WAY. My second problem is this - I don't care how
tuff Starbuck is supposed to be. Lee is an athletic, heavily muscled man.
He is quick and strong. I figure he is around 175lbs or so versus Kara's
what 120lbs tops. He has 50 plus pounds on her. He has the reach advantage.
I am not buying that she is staying on her feet after Lee got in several
CLEAN unanswered punches. In most scenarios she would be lucky to leave
without brain damage. Anyway bottom line is Kara's behavior in both the
flashbacks and present time sequences is abysmal and total unsympathetic.

I've read several comments about Kara having married Sam to protect herself
and Lee & also to preserve the existing relationship. I also dont think
her out loud declaration of love were false or forced. I think it was more
like her realizing that she did love Lee and finding herself scared witless
at her feelings for him and her admission. She believes her love of Zack
killed him First of all if the episode had been truer to the established
character behaviors, Lee would have confronted Kara immediately. Secondly
if the admiral had been a little more observant of Lee's agonized visceral
reaction to the news of Karas marriage I think the admiral would have been
horrified at her cruel heartless downright hateful treatment of his son. I
think that would have damaged the relationship severely. The only reason
she married Sam was to drive Lee away. Folks are also forgetting that she
offered to leave Sam if he left Dee. the problem was she wanted an on the
spot decision and Lee remembering how she had thrown his heart back in his
face could not decide.

I really appreciated the flashbacks in this episode, they gave me a lot of
insight into "present-day". But, call me crazy, I just don't believe in
hitting a woman. I don't care if it's Starbuck and she is the toughest
broad on the planet and could definitely beat the snot out of me in a
boxing match. Maybe I'm a chauvinist pig, but that's just me.

.....I would have appreciated an episode that flashed back to New Caprica
to fill in the back stories and skipped all the boxing crap.....

.....This series has had some wonderful moments up to this
point.....Action, graphic effects, music, writing, direction, acting (not
necessarily in that order) have often been gratifying emotionally and
dramatically.....having said that, I think I'm starting to lose it with the
series.....

.....I had difficulty sitting through this episode.....I just can't care
about Apollo and Starbuck.....WTOWT?.....siblings?.....lovers?.....what's
at stake?.....Bupkus!.....

.....Tyrol has been an immature jerk since the mini-series.....no wonder
Adama felt like kicking his ass.....but stepping into a boxing ring with
someone thirty years younger simply isn't credible and his point in doing
so seemed pretty muddled.....

.....and Dee.....beautiful woman, dumb character.....she's been a doormat
far too long.....she just comes off as a masochist.....might have been more
interesting if she had been "sacrificed" instead of Billy.....

.....and (apart from this particular episode) the drift of the Cylon
mumbo-jumbo about God and re-birth, personal identity, "will I ever know
love?" has become tiresome.....

.....too many of these latter episodes seem to just mark time until the
inevitable "living together, Cylon and Human, in harmony with the universe
la-dee-do-da-day" conclusion.....

.....I hope the series takes a new turn.....it's turning into a soap
opera.....for me.....